BBC Radio 4’s flagship news and current affairs programme, Today, could be moved to Manchester as part of the organisation’s aim to limit the influence of London on their coverage.
The daily programme, which is co-hosted by Nick Robinson, runs from 6 am to 9 am on weekdays and has been on air since 1957.
It is believed that Robinson could move Northwards with Mishal Husain, Martha Kearney and Justin Webb presenting from the broadcasting house. Robinson himself has long-term connections with the North West, having grown up in Macclesfield.
Robinson has also left the door open to a possible future move, saying: “I would not at all be surprised if in the future I did some broadcasting from there or other places outside London.”
There remain concerns however over how splitting up the team would affect the programme’s quality. It would speak volumes to see one of the BBC’s flagship shows partially relocate to the North, as part of a wider plan to widen the geographic diversity of the organisation.
The move would also bolster the BBC’s presence in Manchester, with the political and news elements of the organisation’s coverage still firmly fixated in the capital, despite the relocation of other sections, such as sports, to the Salford outpost.
The decision would represent another instalment in a period of upheaval for the BBC, with the announcement that 450 jobs will be scrapped in a radical overhaul of the newsroom.
Director-General Tony Hall has also announced that he will leave his post in the summer, after a series of cost-cutting measures.
